How to Remove Favicon.ico Virus From Your WordPress Website?

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Do you suspect the Favicon Malware is infected with your WordPress site? Are you seeing content that you do not know on your site? Can you see a score for keywords for counterfeit or illicit goods on your website? Your website is likely to be a survivor of the Favicon.ico virus.

This virus helps hackers to place files on your web server to inject them. These files contain malicious php code that could build rogue admin accounts or instal spyware, for example, to execute harmful acts.

First, your website is defaced by hackers, stealing data, and launching bigger hack campaigns! This results in the suspension of Google’s blacklisting and webhost. As a consequence, your traffic declines, your sales plummets, causing your company to suffer significant harm.

If you’re fortunate, your web host will alert you of the hacking of your website and email you the details. If you don’t know if it’s the Favicon virus, don’t fret. There are forms for the hack to search and wipe.

We’ll teach you how to quickly recognise the Favicon.ico virus in this article. We’re just going to walk you through the steps to repair it and avoid it.

TL;DR

The infection caused by the favicon.ico virus may spread randomly, making it difficult to detect from your WordPress website. To find the malware and immediately clean it, instal MalCare’s automatic plugin. In no time, the website will be free from the Favicon malware!

What is Favicon.ico Malware?

We first need to grasp the favicon.ico file to answer this.

Favicons-Favicons are tiny icons displayed next to the name of the website in a browser tab. In bookmarks or as software icons for smartphones, these icons also appear.

ICO-Like JPEG and PNG, ICO- ICO is an image file format. To view Favicons, modern browsers use ICO, JPEG, PNG or GIF formats.

Well, now let’s explain the malware at favicon.ico. To gain access to your site, hackers exploit vulnerabilities on your website.

Attackers create malicious files until they are inside and call them “favicon.ico.” Usually, these malicious favicons have a randomised string of characters and numbers like ‘favicon’ bdfk34.ico.’

Note: Any file such as an HTML or a JavaScript file can be generated by a hacker and called .ico. It doesn’t actually need to be an image if you see a .ico file.

What happens to a Virus like Favicon.ico?

Few of the typical stuff hackers do in a hack on favicon.ico are:

  • Inject malicious code into the archives of your website. At random sites, they also build their own archives.
  • Spam the server with malicious files on the website.
  • Run phishing scripts to rob the website and its clients’ precious info.
  • Redirect visitors to pages that are phishing or malicious.
  • Send encrypted information that could be criminal in nature via secret favicon files on the website.
  • Install spyware on a website that infiltrates your phone, steals passwords and personal information about your internet use.
  • Trick web users into updating their machines with malware and ransomware.
  • Build a new admin account so that the site can quickly be opened again.
  • Even if you uninstall a new admin account, insert a secret loophole that allows them to join.

Favicon Malware Detection Using a Plugin

The easiest way to detect Favicon malware is using a plugin. In the industry, there are many plugins available, but not all are efficient. You need a solution to beat this infection that will run a deep scan of your site and ensure that nothing has been missed.

We’ll be showing you how to use the MalCare Security Plugin today. There are plenty of reasons why we recommend MalCare. We’re going to take a look:

  • You have to first buy their plan with other plugins in order to run a scan. The first scan is free with MalCare! This allows you to scan your site and first check if malware is present before you continue to sign up for any plans.
  • Outdated malware detection methods are used by many plugins. They’re looking for a malicious code that has already been found. The new and disguised code would therefore go undetected. The scanner from MalCare overcomes this obstacle and leverages intelligent signals that recognise malicious code. By checking the behaviour of codes, it can locate new malware and even hidden or disguised codes.
  • There are some virus scanners that only check folders that they believe malware is going to be placed in. With the Favicon virus, however, hackers can place it on your website in just about any folder. You need a scanner that scans every inch of your site and not folders that are cherry-picked. MalCare runs a complete scan of your site, so you don’t have to worry about any areas missing.
  • The one-time configuration is simple and quick. You don’t have to face any hassles or delays. But even then, to answer any doubts or queries you might have, MalCare provides a 24/7 support team.

You can rest assured, with these features, that the scanner will find every trace of the virus.

How to Detect Favicon Virus using MalCare

Follow these steps to make use of MalCare:

1. On your site, download and activate MalCare.

2. Go to the plugin and select ‘Scan for malware’ and scan your site.

3. The scanner will comb through all your website’s files and folders. Once complete, MalCare will report how many infected files are present.

Now that you’re sure there’s malware on your WordPress site, you need to remedy the situation and restore your site back to normal immediately. The longer you allow the malware to manifest on your site, the more damage it will do. So without any delay, let’s start cleaning your hacked site!

How do I delete malware from Favicon?

We recommend using the MalCare plugin to clean your site. Here is the reason why:

  1. A lengthy procedure that includes uploading a ticket is practised by most plugins. Then, they appoint to the case a security researcher who manually cleans it. It can take hours or days to do this! To run the cleaning process, MalCare has an automatic cleaner that needs a single press. It only takes a few minutes.
  2. In order for them to access your site and clean it most plugins require you to reveal your wp-admin credentials and your FTP credentials. You don’t need to reveal personal details to a third party, since MalCare is automated.
  3. The malware cleaner utilises a system that without destroying your website, eliminates all malicious code.
    When MalCare sets up a solid firewall and proactively protects your site, your website will be safe from potential threats.
  4. For any unusual activities or ransomware, the site will be auto-scanned regularly.

Favicon Malware Removal with a Plugin

Let’s get started with site cleaning.

  • You can see an opportunity to update on the page where MalCare shows how many hacked device files it has discovered.

Note: It is a subscription service as the malware removal process is difficult and requires sufficient funding. Although free resources are available, they only run and clean surface scans. It’s best to select a trustworthy and reliable alternative when it comes to encryption.

  • If you update, a ‘Auto-clean’ option emerges. Simply press and sit back on this button.
  • The plugin will clean your site in a few minutes and show a prompt that cleans your site. That’s it, you are finished!
  • To make sure everything is back to normal, we suggest checking your website. To double-check, you can even run a second scan.

Favicon.ico ransomware will be free from your website.

Note: We recommend our guide, How to Delete Google Blacklist, if you have been blacklisted by Google because of the presence of malware.

We also detailed the manual method of detecting and cleaning Favicon viruses below if this approach is not for you.

How to Manually Detect and Clean Favicon Virus?

We must warn you before we proceed that this approach carries a great degree of harm. To carry out these steps, you need to have the requisite professional skills. Even if you are an authority on the inner workings of WordPress, we don’t recommend this process. This is essentially because the website can be broken or by a minor misstep.

Caution: This technique may cause data loss and harm to your web. Before you start, please have a full backup of your website.

Step 1: In WordPress Directory, find the Favicon files

In all types of files and directories, hackers are discovered to hide the Favicon.ico virus. Open your hosting account and cPanel > File Manager to use it.

Find a folder on your website. This is usually called public-html.

In any folder of your website, we suggest searching for files called ‘favicon’. Pay particular attention to the files below:

/plugins, /plugins, /components, /modules, /uploads, /media, /themes, /templates, or files with /skin.

Step 2: Testing Malicious Code Scripts

You need to examine them until you find these files. Check strings such as “ALREADY RUN_” followed by a random string. Look for ‘base64’ and ‘eval’ keywords. Even if the script is fully encrypted, you can say it is a malicious php file. Here’s an example of what feels like a Favicon.ico virus:

Step 3: Erase Scripts from Malicious

You need to uninstall them to get rid of the malware until you find the files. Be careful here, as other items or data that rely on these files can be present. Deleting those files will split your site’s dependence and crash it.

Step 4: Get Rid of  Backdoors

We discussed earlier that hackers are even building backdoors so that when they like, they can reach your site. You need to find and even uninstall these malicious codes. Backdoors are generally very well hidden, so it’s hard to find them manually. Refer to How to Get Rid of Website Backdoors in our uninstall guide.

With that the favicon.ico malware should clean up your website. There’s still no assurance that it’s absolutely gone. This assaults act like cancer. It is enough for the entire hack to reappear even after all the therapy imaginable, even though a single cell survives.

We will continue to avoid Favicon.ico ransomware until you’re sure you’ve eliminated all traces of the virus data.

How to Protect Your Website From Favicon.ico Malware?

Since there was a loophole that allowed hackers to obtain access, the website was compromised. In the first place, you need to find the flaw that allowed your site to get compromised and seal it.

  • Using a protection plugin to run malware scans on your website on a daily basis.
  • Make sure that the installation of your WordPress core is upgraded to the new upgrade.
  • Updated to the new version with both themes and plugins.
  • Remove users with any rogue admin.
  • Remove any plugins that you do not understand because you are confident you have not installed them.
  • Remove all unused plugins and themes installed on your website, then.
  • Disable it automatically if you’ve installed some pirated or cracked software. Usually, these models bear pre-installed malware.
  • Take precautions to improve your website’s stability. Follow our How to Harden The WordPress Platform guide.

When done, we are sure that the website will be protected from the malware of favicon.ico.

Ultimate Thoughts

We’ve got users on their pages battling Favicon ransomware. At first, only to have their site compromised over and over again, they attempted the manual process. If you’re uncertain, you should verify whether your website has been compromised.

Delays in repairing a hack result in substantial harm to the material, name, and prestige. The loss is so bad sometimes that it’s irreparable.

When it comes to website protection, you really can’t afford to make sacrifices. This is why we highly suggest opting for a security plugin for WordPress such as MalCare that will ensure that the site is safe. You can read more on stack overflow and stack exchange websites about this topic.

Knowing the platform is tracked around the clock, you will have peace of mind. The firewall on the website blocks hackers from visiting the site and warns you if malicious activity is observed.